Victoria's "week from hell" nine news special closer 2009

Anyone alive in Victoria at the time will remember the start of 2009. A record-breaking heatwave at the end of January was followed by an even greater horror - the Black Saturday bushfires in early February. This Melbourne Nine News closer with Brett McLeod is from a bulletin on Sunday the 1st of February 2009, when we had little idea even worse was to come the next weekend. In the week preceding Black Saturday, Victoria endured days above 40 degrees, including in Melbourne where the temperature topped 43 degrees for three consecutive days: 43.4 on January 28th, followed by 44.3 on January 29th and 45.1 on January 30th. This led to a meltdown in essential services, devastating bushfires and contributed to a father throwing his daughter from Melbourne's West Gate Bridge.